---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow…"
description: "\"“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky; So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/richard-holmes-50818_life_my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbo_2423114.jpg"
---

#  My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky; So…

![“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky; So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! …5” quote by Richard Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/richard-holmes-50818_life_my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbo_2423114.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/richard-holmes-50818_life_my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbo_2423114.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/richard-holmes-50818_life_my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbo_2423114.jpg)

> ““My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky; So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! …5””

[Richard Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holmes/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

He reflects on the continuity of wonder from childhood to adulthood, urging acceptance of life’s phases, even death.

**In simple terms:** Wonder persists through life’s stages.

Key Takeaway

Embrace wonder at every age.

Themes

nature life aging

Mood

contemplative hopeful

Type

poetic philosophical

When to use this quote

- education
- mental health
- creative writing

Key Concepts

existentialism aesthetics

Questions to Reflect On

- How does wonder change with age?
- What role does nostalgia play in meaning?

A Different Perspective

Focusing on mortality may cause anxiety.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Grow Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grow-old/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Rainbow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rainbow/) [Rainbows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rainbows/)

## Related quotes

> [“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbow-in-the-sky-so-was-it-when/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky: So was it when my life began; So is it now I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbow-in-the-sky-so-was-it-when-2/)

[William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/)

> [“The rainbow across the sky after a storm confirms Your kindness and Your forgiving heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euginia-herlihy/the-rainbow-across-the-sky-after-a-storm-confirms-your-kindness-and/)

[Euginia Herlihy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euginia-herlihy/)

> [A small child has no ambitions, he has no desires. He is so absorbed in the moment - a bird on the wing catches…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/a-small-child-has-no-ambitions-he-has-no-desires-he-is-so-absorbed-in/)

[Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/)

> [Do you ever see the rainbow in the sky? Do the colors fight amonst themselves? Then why should mankind fight amongst themselves trough their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ras-michael/do-you-ever-see-the-rainbow-in-the-sky-do-the-colors-fight-amonst/)

Ras Michael

> [There's a rainbow in the sky, all the time, don't be blind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ziggy-marley/there-s-a-rainbow-in-the-sky-all-the-time-don-t-be-blind/)

[Ziggy Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ziggy-marley/)

> [Rain, rain, and sun! A rainbow in the sky!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/rain-rain-and-sun-a-rainbow-in-the-sky/)

[Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/)

> [What are clouds, but an excuse for the sky? What is life, but an escape from death?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-clavell/what-are-clouds-but-an-excuse-for-the-sky-what-is-life-but-an-escape/)

[James Clavell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-clavell/)

> [Life is the fire that burns and the sun that gives light. Life is the wind and the rain and the thunder in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-the-fire-that-burns-and-the-sun-that-gives-light-life-is-the/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The sky is always there for me, while my life has been going through many, many changes. When I look up the sky, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yoko-ono/the-sky-is-always-there-for-me-while-my-life-has-been-going-through/)

[Yoko Ono](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yoko-ono/)

> [Always try to keep a patch of sky above your life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/always-try-to-keep-a-patch-of-sky-above-your-life/)

[Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/)

> [“Notice when your heart leaps up in joyous exuberance.In these moments the voice of your spirit is speaking directly to you.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justine-willis-toms/notice-when-your-heart-leaps-up-in-joyous-exuberance-in-these-moments/)

Justine Willis Toms

> [Details are our business as writers. Your heart leaps when you see a detail that can go somewhere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/details-are-our-business-as-writers-your-heart-leaps-when-you-see-a/)

[Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/)

> [“My heart leaps as I remember this morning's note. This boy is my weirdo. My weirdo is hot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cat-patrick/my-heart-leaps-as-i-remember-this-morning-s-note-this-boy-is-my/)

[Cat Patrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cat-patrick/)

> [When anyone escapes, my heart / leaps up. Even when it's I who am escaped from, / I am half on the side of the leaver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-olds/when-anyone-escapes-my-heart-leaps-up-even-when-it-s-i-who-am-escaped/)

[Sharon Olds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-olds/)

## More by Richard Holmes

> [“The celebrated Parisian doctor Professor Xavier Bichat developed a fully materialist theory of the human body and mind in his lectures Physiological Researches on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holmes/the-celebrated-parisian-doctor-professor-xavier-bichat-developed-a/)

[Richard Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holmes/)

> [“Into this stronghold of royalist tradition and prejudice, Shelley unloaded truckloads of French philosophy, German horror novels, his solar microscope and several crates of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holmes/into-this-stronghold-of-royalist-tradition-and-prejudice-shelley/)

[Richard Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holmes/)

> [“He (the British soldier) is generally beloved by two sorts of Companion, in whores and lice, for both these Vermin are great admirers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holmes/he-the-british-soldier-is-generally-beloved-by-two-sorts-of-companion/)

[Richard Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holmes/)

> [“Physical vision - one might say scientific vision - brings about a metaphysical shift in the observer's view of reality as a whole. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holmes/physical-vision-one-might-say-scientific-vision-brings-about-a/)

[Richard Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holmes/)

> [“People today do not know the difference between a bombardier and a brigadier”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holmes/people-today-do-not-know-the-difference-between-a-bombardier-and-a/)

[Richard Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holmes/)

> [“Most people today couldn't tell a bombardier from a brigadier" - said during a lecture in aid of the Army Benevolent Fund in 2009”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holmes/most-people-today-couldn-t-tell-a-bombardier-from-a-brigadier-said/)

[Richard Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holmes/)

[Explore all 7 Richard Holmes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holmes/)

## More Life quotes

> [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/)

[Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/)

> [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/)

[Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/)

> [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Life works most perfectly when a reciprocal love relationship is in place between man and God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/life-works-most-perfectly-when-a-reciprocal-love-relationship-is-in/)

[Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/)

> [I value the experiences that come with life too much to sit by and not put my full effort into them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-miller/i-value-the-experiences-that-come-with-life-too-much-to-sit-by-and/)

[Jim Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-miller/)

> [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. When done well, it raises the quality of human life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-chabon/entertainment-is-a-sacred-pursuit-when-done-well-when-done-well-it/)

[Michael Chabon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-chabon/)

> [“There's more to life than you can see. Your sight is limited.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tammy-kling/there-s-more-to-life-than-you-can-see-your-sight-is-limited/)

[Tammy Kling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tammy-kling/)

> [“I've spent much of my life calling my intuition "something wrong with me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deanna-l-lawlis/i-ve-spent-much-of-my-life-calling-my-intuition-something-wrong-with/)

Deanna L. Lawlis

> [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/)

[Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/)

> [The only people who think the Internet is a calamity are people whose lives have been hurt by it; the only people who insist…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-klosterman/the-only-people-who-think-the-internet-is-a-calamity-are-people-whose/)

[Chuck Klosterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-klosterman/)

> [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/)

[Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/)

> [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“The future is only an indifferent void no one cares about, but the past is filled with life, and its countenance is irritating, repellent,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/the-future-is-only-an-indifferent-void-no-one-cares-about-but-the/)

[Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/)

> [Two things revolutionised life: moving to the countryside and falling in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-love/two-things-revolutionised-life-moving-to-the-countryside-and-falling/)

[Nick Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-love/)

> [But just remember, life without me would be even more unbearable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-rice/but-just-remember-life-without-me-would-be-even-more-unbearable/)

[Anne Rice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-rice/)

[Browse all 265,290 Life quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky; So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man; So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die! …5”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Richard Holmes"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holmes/my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbow-in-the-sky-so-was-it-when-3/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Life"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holmes/my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbow-in-the-sky-so-was-it-when-3/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/richard-holmes-50818_life_my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbo_2423114.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/richard-holmes-50818_life_my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbo_2423114.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad0/richard-holmes-50818_life_my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbo_2423114.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky; So was it when my life began; So is it now I am a man…” — Richard Holmes",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Richard Holmes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-holmes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“My heart leaps up when I...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holmes/my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbow-in-the-sky-so-was-it-when-3/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-holmes/my-heart-leaps-up-when-i-behold-a-rainbow-in-the-sky-so-was-it-when-3/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
